A Friday Quote
I’ve been behind on life with no time for “free pattern Friday” the last two weeks, but since I’ve been in reading mode this week, I’d like to share a great little statement I came across today. This is simple yet profound:
“A friend of mine, a homeschool mom, just passed away of cancer. In the week before she died, I asked her if she had any regrets in her life. She told me she wished she had baked less bread – she said if she had it to do over again she would buy bread and spend more time with her children. She had invested time and energy in pursuing the “path” because she thought it was part of the spiritual homeschool package…”
– Family Ministries: Exposing the 7 Major Blindspots of Homeschoolers
A woman I badly want to meet
(in a mirror)
Once being at an honest woman’s house, I, after some pause, asked her how she did? She said, Very badly. I asked her if she was sick? she answered, No. What then, said I, are any of your children ill? She told me, No. What, said I, is your husband amiss, or do you go back in the world?
No, no, said she, but I am afraid I shall not be saved.
And broke out with heavy heart, saying, ‘Ah, Goodman Bunyan! Christ and a pitcher; if I had Christ, though I went and begged my bread with a pitcher, it would be better with me than I think it is now!’ This woman had her heart broken, this woman wanted Christ, this woman was concerned for her soul. There are but few women, rich women, that count Christ and a pitcher better than the world, their pride, and pleasures. This woman’s cries are worthy to be recorded; it was a cry that carried in it, not only a sense of the want, but also of the worth of Christ. This cry, ‘Christ and a pitcher, ‘ made a melodious noise in the ears of the very angels!
But, I say, few women cry out thus; few women are so in love with their own eternal salvation, as to be willing to part with all their lusts and vanities for Jesus Christ and a pitcher. Good Jacob also was thus: ‘If the Lord, ‘ said he, ‘will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, then he shall be my God.’ Yea, he vowed it should be so. ‘And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on; so that I come again to my father’s house in peace: then shall the Lord be my God’ (Gen 28:20).
– John Bunyan, The Acceptable Sacrifice: The Excellency of a Broken Heart
Continual Repentance
O God of Grace,
Thou hast imputed my sin to my substitue,
and hast imputed his righteousness
to my soul,
clothing me with a bridegroom’s robe,
decking me with jewels of holiness.
But in my Christian walk I am still in rags;
my best prayers are stained with sin;
my penitential tears are so many impurity;
my confessions of wrong are so many
aggravations of sin;
my receiving the Spirit is tinctured with
selfishness.I need to repent of my repentance;
I need my tears to be washed;
I have no robe to bring to cover my sins,
no loom to weave my own righteousness;
I am always standing clothed in filthy garments,
and by grace am always receiving change of
raiment,
for thou dost always justify the ungodly;
I am always going into the far country,
and always returning home as a prodigal,
always saying, Father, forgive me,
and thou art always bringing forth
the best robe.Every morning let me wear it,
every evening return in it,
go out to the day’s work in it,
be married in it,
be wound in death in it,
stand before the great white throne in it,
enter heaven in it shining as the sun.
Grant me never to lose sight of
the exceeding sinfulness of sin,
the exceeding righteousness of salvation,
the exceeding glory of Christ,
the exceeding beauty of holiness,
the exceeding wonder of grace.– Valley of Vision
Grace to the Humble
I am hesitant to share my personal thoughts of “the morning after,” but this is my blog, and being in a conversation about this topic is highly unlikely for me due to the fact that the median age of my workplace population is 3. 
I’ll admit that the first thing I did this morning was pop open my macbook just to make sure that there wasn’t some shocking upset for McCain, and, after two or three minutes, I was ready to close it again and roll over for twenty more minutes of sleep. Shepherd kept me awake more than I would have liked, and the thought of Obama as the President (although first African-American President is a great thing) made me not as excited to start the day. I closed my eyes, and my mental filmstrip rolled for several minutes.
Lydia asked me last night why McCain probably isn’t going to win and Obama is. She asked me about what a President does and why we have laws. She reminded me why I love talking to my children (or any children, for that matter) about these kinds of things; it’s humorous to find myself groping for the right words and to hear how silly I sound. I talked about government, elaborated a little on the names and dates we are memorizing in American history, and for now with her, I sidestepped the issues that really burn in my mind.
When we found out we were expecting Meredith in 2006, I was shocked, angry, and scared. I’ll be honest. I wasn’t ready for another baby, and for a short time I was exhausted thinking of how in the world I would be able to handle another pregnancy and infant on top of our two toddlers. Later, this past Spring and with a different pregnancy, my midwife phoned me to tell me that an ultrasound showed some unusual findings which later were shown to be not one, but two soft markers for Downs. For several weeks I was weepy, a little angry, and terribly frightened at the thought of the responsibility of all of the unknowns in the face of our present load of children. There is little in this world that is more humbling and exhausting to me than taking care of small children.
The rewind button presses in my mind. There was a woman whom I have never met who was 18 years old and overwhelmed with possibly the worst news of her life in 1979: she was going to have a baby. She was going to have me. She was probably angry, scared, and searching for the door to get her out of such a life-altering situation.
I cannot imagine my life without these beautiful children. I cannot imagine and don’t want to think about what my life could look like right now with the consequences of my foolish arrogance and without the grace of God! How can I look into the eyes of my children and be at peace with the thought that the leader of my nation would have encouraged me to get rid of two of them? Further, how can I fathom the thought that a hand would have reached into my mother’s womb and eliminated me?
These thoughts could make me angry, but I am not angry. I am full of joy today. I am full of joy and peace because I know my God is working. He is breaking the arm of the arrogant and proving He is God. He opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. My husband prayed over me in bed this morning and prayed that the body of Christ would look to Jesus as our sovereign King and that for us that would be first in our home. I pray for God to deal justly with the wicked and give mercy to those who search for truth in Him. I pray that my heart will be humbled and not look to a man but the Man for my peace. I pray that for all of us who follow Jesus Christ. We are not slaves but to Christ. This is not our home. May we believe it and live like it!
A couple of things I have been taking in:
The heart of a man I respect tremendously
One at a Time
Living Soli Deo Gloria Under Barak Obama
Our lives are vapors
Should it not be laid upon the heart of every lover of the gospel of Jesus on this day to plead for the overturning of false doctrines and the extension of divine truth? Would it not be well to search our own hearts, and turn out any of the Popish lumber of self-righteousness which may lie concealed therein? –C.H. Spurgeon, M&E, November 5th
Overcoming Pride: Loving Other People part III
I want to send a link out for this post to the words that my friend Sara wrote about overcoming the dangers of pride. This is actually what I wanted to write about for the next post in this series, and Sara did it so beautifully! So click over and be encouraged by her meditations on learning to worship Jesus as King of the heart.
I’m excited also because Sara, her husband, and her daughter will be coming to stay with our family very soon on their Live Lightly Tour. More details to come later, and if you are in SC and want to come meet them while they are here, send me a note!
(photo courtesy James Black)
The Beginning: Loving Other People part I
I want to try something that I have done only a handful of times (and not very successfully, might I add), which is write a series on a particular topic. I shared the idea last night with my friend Emily on the phone, and we had a neat conversation about how we love when God uses these kinds of things to grow us more as we write, digest, and read what others write, too.
Originally I wanted to write a series during the month of March, but I am too excited to wait that long to begin. I will start it today with hopes that I will write five to ten posts in the series over the following weeks. I have great plans for what God will be teaching me and the joy He will be unfolding in my heart as I write these posts. I really want these lessons to change me and stick with me. Hear my prayer, O Lord.
Longing to Love Others With Newness
I want to post a series about what God has put on my heart; I only do not know what to title it. Perhaps “Loving thy Neighbor,” or “Being Still Enough to Love,” or “Loving Those God Has Placed Around Us.” Anyway this series is about truly, truly loving the people around us, slowing down enough to see what that looks like, and seeing God’s radiance shine as we extend His grace and joy to the people we rub shoulders with every day. It’s about loving those without from what is within. I am not teaching or preaching about this. I am exploring it in the form of my journal because it is something I am longing for with intensity in my heart.
Practicing the Presence of God
I believe it begins with the practice of listening to God, and begging His Spirit to be in our minds, hearts, and actions — to permeate everything we are, think, and do. Yes, buddhist friend, it is emptying the mind… but not quite like you do. It is emptying the mind of “self” and making way for the filling up of God’s intentions, God’s thoughts, God’s love for Himself (Oh, yes! Himself!), and grace through His Son to others. Oh, to be a Christian is to know authentic excitement and joy.
Here is something I read earlier today about practicing the presence of God by Brother Lawrence. It is an imploring and profound correspondence he had with a friend:
You need not cry very loud. He is nearer to us than we are aware. We do not always have to be in church to be with God. We may make an oratory of our heart so we can, from time to time, retire to converse with Him in meekness, humility, and love. Every one is capable of such familiar conversation with God; some more, some less. He knows what we can do.
Let us begin then. Perhaps He expects but one generous resolution on our part. Have courage. We have but little time to live. You are nearly sixty-four, and I am almost eighty. Let us live and die with God. Sufferings will be sweet and pleasant while we are with Him. Without Him, the greatest pleasures will be a cruel punishment to us. May He be praised by all.
Gradually become accustomed to worship Him in this way; to beg His grace, to offer Him your heart from time to time; in the midst of your business, even every moment if you can. Do not always scrupulously confine yourself to certain rules or particular forms of devotion. Instead, act in faith with love and humility.
I am anxious to learn what God has in store for me to learn and truly begin loving other people like I never have. I want to dig into His Word, find the lessons hidden in treasures from the saints of the past, and admire some contemporary hearts ablaze for Jesus Christ. It is truly a sweet thought that I can gaze into the eyes of God and then look into the eyes of other people with love. I hope you will read and share this road with me in coming weeks.
(photo courtesy Cicero Fonseca)
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